Prior to hosting Chelsea in the fifth round of the FA Cup, Manuel Pellegrini insisted that he would not change the approach of his Manchester City side, that they would go out and attack. And attack they did, beating Chelsea 2-0 to advance to the quarter finals - and remaining alive in all four competitions they’re involved in.
Any doubts that some had over Pellegrini’s decision to continue with his same tactics, despite being beaten by Chelsea not even two weeks earlier, were erased by the 16th minute. That’s when Stevan Jovetić, who’d hit the bar just a minute before, put Manchester City ahead. While David Silva sent the ball up the pitch, Jovetić, running up the right, easily left Cesar Azpilicueta in the dust, arriving just in time to grab a ball from Edin Džeko. His tidy finish hit the inside of the far post, leaving Petr Cech helpless.
José Mourinho tried to change things up by replacing Samuel Eto’o with new boy Mohamed Salah at the half, but Chelsea were still unable to get a look in. Nor did the introduction of Fernando Torres for Ramires at the hour mark do much to provide hope to the visitors.
Instead it was City that got the second. Samir Nasri, on for Jovetić just six minutes earlier, exchanged passes with David Silva before tapping in for the Citizens’ second. Replays showed that Silva was just a touch offside when receiving the ball from Nasri, but it also looked like David Luiz may have managed to stop the goal had he tracked the run rather than stopping with his hand in the air...
Man City: Pantilimon, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy, Milner, Javi Garcia, Toure, Silva (Navas 68), Džeko (Negredo 80), Jovetić (Nasri 61)
Goals: Jovetić 16', Nasri 67'
Chelsea: Cech, Ivanovic, Cahill, Luiz, Azpilicueta, Mikel, Matic, Ramires (Torres 61), Willian, Hazard, Eto’o (Salah 45)
